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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885750">Monopoly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie'>PerriewinkleNerdie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Open Heart (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Love, Love Confessions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:41:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Game turns into an argument and an argument turns into confessions</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Monopoly</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, hello, hello! <br/>Guess who just finished her exams! I’ve had this one written for a couple of days and now that I’m finally free, I’m not feeling guilty spending my time away from books :D <br/>Enjoy! &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>„You want me to do what?” he asked, leaning back against the back of the couch, finishing his glass of water. Claire’s eyes sparkled with a faint resemblance of mischief. Before she could answer, the doorbell rang, announcing their food being delivered. She squeezed his knee, standing up to pay for the dinner. Her hand reached for her wallet, but at the same moment she heard Ethan clear his throat and their conversation from a couple weeks ago flashed in her mind.</p>
<p>“I know how much money you have, and I know how much money I have. You have better things to spend it on, so please, don’t fight me on this.” He said, pushing her card away and giving the cashier his own. She tried to argue but was met with a stern look that told her that trying would be futile.</p>
<p>She paid for their food, thanking the delivery person, then closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Shaking the box in her hand, she grinned at his annoyed face.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you’re making me eat pizza on a weeknight.”</p>
<p>“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s good and you know it. You may try to hide it, but I saw how your eyes lit up when the bell rang.” Nodding her head, she placed the box on the coffee table, then padded to the kitchen for two plates. Ethan’s eyes never left her, his gaze leaving a pleasantly warm trail down her back. She turned her head to wink at him, causing his cheeks to take on a slightly pink color.</p>
<p>“To answer your question, I’m hungry. My reaction had nothing to do with pizza.” His voice wavered slightly when he tried to deny his real intentions.</p>
<p>“Sure, you liar.” She giggled, kissing his cheek playfully, then reaching for the first slice hastily. The steam was practically pouring out of the box, the temperature hot enough to cause some damage.</p>
<p>“You’re going to burn your fingers.” Ethan pointed out, taking a slice himself, carefully and with precision. She burst out laughing, shaking her head at him before she took a bite. “And now you’re going to burn your mouth too.”</p>
<p>She took a moment to chew and swallow the food before throwing him a mocking look, throwing her hair behind her shoulder with her wrist, careful not to get grease on her blonde strands. “Bold of you to assume that my fingers and mouth are not used to the temperature. I’m a student, I basically survive on stuff like this. I’m a pro at handling hot things like that at this point.”</p>
<p>A smirk grew on his lips, taking over all his features, his eyes sparking brightly. He leaned forwards, tucking a curl, that fell onto her forehead, behind her ear, then taking her face in his hands and bringing her closer to him. “Handling hot things, you say. Should I be jealous?”</p>
<p>“You’re the hottest one, Doctor Ramsey.” Her giggle filled his mind, sending a pleasant shiver down his spine. When he closed his eyes, he could see her, very clearly, with brilliant eyes and a wide smile that could light up the world.</p>
<p>“God, you’re so beautiful.” His voice was low and tender when he whispered against her lips. This close to her, he felt her body shaking in a silent laugh that slowly but surely took over her entire frame. “Am I amusing you?”</p>
<p>“No, it’s just that… you’re not even <em>looking</em> at me, how can you know if I’m beautiful?”</p>
<p>“I don’t need to look at you to see you. You’re here.” He took her hand, pressing a slow kiss to her wrist, then placed it on the side of his head. “And here.” He moved her hand over the place where his heart was. “It’s been that way for a while now.”</p>
<p>Claire looked at him for a long while, trying to decipher what his eyes hid. They were so close that it would only take one small move and their lips would meet. Another move, a slightly bigger one, and she could kiss the place where her hand currently was. A much more meaningful move. The <em>right</em> move. Looking into his eyes for as long as their bodies allowed them to, she slowly leaned forward, taking her hand away and pressing her lips to the fabric of his shirt, feeling the warmth of his body beneath the material. Breathing in the barely-there scent of his cologne, almost gone after a whole day at work, she allowed herself a moment of tranquility before leaning back, pressing their lips together in a single, heart stopping kiss. Upon leaning away from her, he could see her grinning, looking just a bit too suspiciously malicious.</p>
<p>“What’s on your mind?”</p>
<p>“Remember what I asked you before the food came in?” she asked, sitting more comfortably by his side, running her fingers up and down his arm like she was trying to seduce him. He shook his head sternly.</p>
<p>“Hell no, we’re not playing Monopoly.”</p>
<p>“Ethan.”</p>
<p>“I mean it, Claire, I’m not playing any stupid game.” He shook his head again, shifting away from her as she came a bit closer to him.</p>
<p>“Play Monopoly with me.”</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Play Monopoly with me.” she repeated herself, inching closer and closer to him, but he was still reluctant.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“<em>Ethan.”</em> Muttering his name, she threw her leg over his thighs, straddling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing the two of them close again. “<em>Play Monopoly with me.”</em></p>
<p>He tried not to bend under her intense stare, tried to resist her, tried not to let her get her way, but if he learned anything about himself while being in a relationship with her, it was the fact that he found it ridiculously hard to say ‘no’ to her. “…<em>damn it. Fine.”</em></p>
<p>Ethan, at that precise moment, decided, that there was no way that he wasn’t under some sort of a spell of hers. She grinned <em>like a child</em>, then clapped her hands <em>like a child,</em> and then practically skipped off to get the game, <em>like a child</em>, and the most bizarre thing was, there was not even a sliver of annoyance in his whole being. He just… accepted her as she was, for all that she was, and from the way she looked at him, he had a feeling she did the same for him.</p>
<p>While she set up the game, he cleaned up after their dinner and got them both a glass of wine. Sitting on the blanket opposite her, the board between them, he wondered for the last time if there was any chance for him to get out of this. One look from her and he already got his answer.</p>
<p>“Are we playing for something?” she asked, taking a sip of wine, looking at him from beneath her lashes, smiling into her glass.</p>
<p>“Got anything on your mind?”</p>
<p>“Nothing really.”</p>
<p>“You’re <em>lying.”</em> He called her out on it, the corners of his lips going up slightly. “What do you want?”</p>
<p>“… If I win, you take a few of those leave days you hog so preciously and get away from town with me.” it almost seemed as though she was embarrassed to be asking him to ditch his job and go somewhere with her. There was no way for her to know how much he liked that idea. He nodded, deep in thought as he tried to come up for something for himself in the case of him winning.</p>
<p>“If <em>I </em>win… you spend four nights a week here instead of two.”</p>
<p>Claire started staying the night a few months ago, and while at first it was occasional, it has become some sort of a habit for them, and now they had an agreement for her to stay with him two nights every week.</p>
<p>“Deal.” They shook on it and started the game.</p>
<p>As usually in any game of Monopoly, the beginnings were slow. Ethan preferred chess, if only for the sole reason of the game not taking forever to pick up speed and not taking <em>eternity</em> to finish. Claire didn’t mind the amount of time it took to play, and she wouldn’t say that Monopoly is her favorite game, but it gave her the perfect opportunity to see how Ethan would handle it, it was just too good of a chance to pass up on.</p>
<p>Truth be told, she kind of expected him to be excellent at it, and he really was. It definitely had something to do with him being smart about his decisions, and combined with just a bit of luck, it resulted in him buying out almost all of the most expensive properties.</p>
<p>“Two houses on the second navy spot.” He said slowly, throwing a pile of fake bills onto the middle of the board for her to put in the bank. She huffed, annoyed, put away the money and handed him two green blocks. Their hands brushed against one another, just enough for the familiar spark to pass through them.</p>
<p>Two hours, many fake transactions and a <em>lot</em> of houses and hotels later, Claire was basically bankrupt. On the edge of either losing or giving up, all it took for Ethan to destroy her was for her to stop at one of his properties and she would be dead. As it turned out, game had different plans for the two of them, and when it was Ethan’s turn, her threw a 6, which resulted in him having another move after the first one. His first six steps landed him on one of the hotels Claire owned, which caused him to give her a rather prominent amount of money from his ridiculously enormous pile of fake cash.</p>
<p>“You do know how close to death you were, right?” he teased her, taking the dices into his hands to roll them again.</p>
<p>“Play the game, Ramsey.”</p>
<p>Another 6, another move for the Doctor. His eyes widened as he saw his hand stop at another red hotel of Claire’s. She bit her lip, trying not to burst out laughing.</p>
<p>“This one is going to <em>cost</em> you.” she mused, showing him the amount on the card. He grumbled but gave her the money without a single word. She placed the dices into his open hands, watching the situation with a shallow breath. As the final number of spaces he’d have to move got revealed, she gave up trying and started laughing. Ethan looked at the dices incredulously, then at Claire, back at the board and at Claire again.</p>
<p>“I told you that game is stupid.” He threw the words out of his mouth, pushing himself away from the board. Claire leaned towards him but he leaned back.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know you were such a sore loser.” She taunted him, folding her arms across her chest with a smirk.</p>
<p>“I’m not! It’s just ridiculous! How is it that I’m winning, <em>winning,</em> calculating my every move, and then three rolls of dice and I’m out like light!” he exclaimed in anger, throwing the dice into the box and missing.</p>
<p>The final part of the game began: the argument. It seemed like there was no way to avoid it, as there always was a losing party. Claire tried to reason with him, but he was riled up, which in turn got her mad, and after a few minutes they were having a full argument over something so trivial as <em>Monopoly.</em></p>
<p>“Why are you so insistent on not letting it go? It’s just a game!”</p>
<p>“Because I love you, god damnit!” he exclaimed, looking straight into her eyes. He didn’t plan on telling her how he felt like that, even though she may have already been suspecting that. Her green eyes sparked in surprise, silence falling over them, filling the room to the brim.</p>
<p>“You… love me?” she managed to whisper, her cheeks flushing furiously.</p>
<p>“Of course I do.” His voice broke a little, pouring all that he had, all that he was, into his words, his actions.</p>
<p>She nodded, looking at him intensely, then reached forward and yanked the board to the side, spilling the money, the houses and hotels, the cards and pawns all over the floor. Before he could protest, she crawled towards him, straddling him once again, taking his face in her hands. Her index fingers brushed against the undersides of his ears, using another point of contact to haul him onto her as their lips met in a fervent kiss that stole the breath from his lungs. His hands traced their path up her thighs, along the lines of her hips and waist before settling on the shoulder blades, pressing her body into his so they aligned.</p>
<p>Claire tilted back slightly, taking him with her, and he followed her suit, covering her body with his, retracing his hands’ movements down her sides, gripping the underside of her knee, keeping himself above her with his other arm. Her fingers tangled into the locks on the back of his head, hanging onto them like her very existence depended on it as he devoured her neck with kisses and soft bites, skimming his teeth along the line formed by her collarbones, prominently visible in the low lights of his living room. A breathless moan escaped her lips, echoing in the empty space of his apartment, carried along the sounds of his heavy breathing, one of many indications of how much of an influence she had on him.</p>
<p>She guided him back to her lips, kissing him slowly, gently, lovingly. Almost sweetly. He smiled into the kiss before breaking it, allowing them both to catch a breath. His arms wrapped tightly around her as he pulled her onto him, laying them both down on the floor. Claire leaned up on her elbow to make their eyes meet.</p>
<p>“I love you too.” She whispered, falling back into his embrace, nuzzling her nose against his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair. She could feel him take a relieved breath, his muscles losing the tension that was there just mere seconds ago, instead leaving him with a blissful peace.</p>
<p>“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” He looked down at her, bringing her close to him again, looking at her lips with something slightly darker in them.</p>
<p>“I think I do.” She grinned, pressing their lips together for a moment before falling into his embrace once more. Her fingers wandered the planes of his chest, tracing intricate patterns with her fingertips as they talked, late into the night.</p>
<p>“You know, the game never got a clear winner.” She said, turning her head upwards to look at him. “I can stay four nights here if you want.”</p>
<p>“And I will take you away from here for a few days. Sounds like exactly something we need. Besides, that much time with you and your full attention? What else could I ask for?” he looked at the ceiling as he spoke, then looked down at her, grinning sheepishly. She pressed a kiss to his chest, shaking her head at his words.</p>
<p>The calmness around them was like a sleeping potion, pulling them away from the state of conscience and away from the world they lived in, straight into the land of dreams. Right before they fell asleep, she asked with humor in her voice.</p>
<p>“So… you didn’t want to admit defeat because you love me? Is that a rule?”</p>
<p>“Don’t count on it.”</p>
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